Posts Tagged ‘paris 2010’

Can BMW transfers Mini’s driving fun and premium pricing to the two-wheel segment?

Mini will introduce a Scooter E Concept at the Paris International Motor Show next month. It could be the premium small car brand’s first two-wheel vehicle.

The electric drive unit, concealed beneath a painted cover inside the rear wheel, is powered by electricity supplied from a lithium-ion battery pack. Apart from the compact battery, a charging system and connecting cable are integrated in the rear of the Scooter E Concept. The charging cable has a plug which fits into a conventional domestic socket. This has a potential advantage of eliminating higher voltage special charging stations but will drastically increase the time to recharge the scooter.

Plugs and cables are accommodated underneath a cover similar to the round tank flap in a Mini car. After opening the illuminated flap, the plug and charging cable can be pulled out to a length of five meters. After the battery has been charged up, a button-operated spring mechanism ensures that the cable is retracted and coiled in a space-saving compartment. However, no range or performance or pricing data were released.

Concepts!

The cockpit of the Mini Scooter E Concept has a “Centre Speedo” in the circular shape of the four wheel Minis, with a smartphone integrated in the middle. The wraparound speedometer is in the form of a tube filled with fluid, the content expanding in line with the speed like a thermometer. In the lower area of the Centre Speedo, a battery charge level display indicates the range currently available. The design of all the control elements for lights, directional indicators and other driving functions corresponds to the buttons on the multifunction steering wheel of Mini cars.

DeZir capable of accelerating from zero to 100 kph in five seconds, and to 50 kph in just two.

Renault released this morning the first glimpse of its latest concept car, DeZir (D-zI’-er), ahead of this year’s Paris Motor Show in October.

Renault has just passed Ford Motor as the third largest brand in Europe, based in part on a strategy of inexpensive option packages that combined the most, well, desirable features that Ford was charging more money for. VW remains securely in first place, with PSA/Citroen in second.

In a statement, Renault said DeZir stands as an illustration of the brand’s commitment to more emotional styling. As such, DeZir is a complete rejection of the angular styling favored by Renault’s former head of design, Patrick Le Quement. Renault says that fluidity was an overriding theme from the initial preliminary sketches, and was expressed by a blend of simple forms and generous volumes.

Design News!

The new design chief, Laurens van den Acker, who came from Mazda and Ford, is working the brand’s new signature “Drive the Change!”